- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Peterborough—Kawartha
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $106,196.43
- Government Page
Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleague to speak with her colleague about what we fought for in committee. The Conservatives were the only ones who put forward and supported an amendment for UNDRIP to ensure that first nations had access to their own child care rights.
The initial version of Bill C-35 made no reference to official language minority communities. The Conservative amendments were introduced during the clause-by-clause review by the HUMA committee and they were voted down by the Liberals, which the NDP supported.
Therefore, I would ask the member to say that the Conservatives have been the only ones standing for families and parents, including indigenous peoples and first nations, to do what they feel is best with their children and to give them the choice. Therefore, why are New Democrats supporting the Liberals?
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- Feb/14/24 5:35:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do work very well with my colleague across the way. We, as Conservatives, supported her amendment in committee to support indigenous people, for children and parents to have that right under UNDRIP, and the Liberals did not.
I think it is really insulting to these women-operated child care centres. Why are they not included? That there is research that they do not provide the quality has been said to me repeatedly. I have been to these centres. The quality of child care is deeply diminishing under this care because they do not have the money. They cannot charge more money. Their hands are tied. The quality in these not-for-profit centres is also dropping. Kids do not have access to food. Parents are getting nickelled and dimed.
To say that they do not have the quality of care, in a small, independent, female-owned-and-operated child care centre, is not fair. I encourage members to go to see them.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her intervention. I enjoy working with her at committee and in the process of listening to witness testimony.
An amendment was put forward by the member to add “free, prior and informed consent” with respect to indigenous peoples. This amendment is very similar to what Conservatives believe, which is that parents should be able to choose what is right for their children and family. The Liberals voted against that motion.
My question for the member is this: How can she trust the Liberals when they voted against that very amendment that allows indigenous peoples to choose what is it right for their children?
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Madam Speaker, I really enjoy working with my hon. colleague. I know she is fighting for autonomy for indigenous peoples as well, which we support.
I think what is important here is to say that we absolutely put forward that amendment. When we are looking at recruitment and retention of a labour strategy, there is nothing in this bill. We put it forth in committee, and it was turned down.
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- May/2/23 8:47:49 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that is a great question.
We had the opportunity, through the status of women committee when we were recently doing a tour studying human trafficking, to go to Sault Ste. Marie, and we visited a centre that oversaw indigenous care. It was an incredible facility, and speaking exactly to what my colleague was just asking about, it has increased indigenous children in care, which was up an extreme amount. However, with the money that was being spent, there was no housing. So, the member is extremely on point in terms of having access to the tools that are needed, housing and supportive housing.
One of the things we do not talk enough about in this House of Commons is that housing is fine, but when we are dealing with people who have never been given the tools or knowledge, especially young children who have never been loved in the way they were supposed to be loved by no fault of their own, the parents' own, they need supports, they need connections and they need a lot of wraparound support. I definitely think we need to be focusing on that.
To tie back to what I said earlier, we need to listen to the people who are dealing with these children on what their needs are so that we can make sure that we are giving them the right resources that they need.
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- May/2/23 8:45:24 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, one of the things that I think is really critical in this discussion is giving back the power that was taken away. When we look at victims, the biggest thing is that power is taken away.
We were actually studying Bill C-35 in committee, which is is on child care, and we just wrapped it up today. My colleague for Winnipeg Centre put forward an amendment looking at free, prior and informed consent and giving indigenous peoples the choice to choose what is best for their children, and I could not agree more.
I think that is what we need to do as leaders in Parliament: give back power and autonomy to the indigenous communities. They know what to do. They do not need the government to tell them what to do or how to do it. They know exactly what their people need, and they should be in charge of deciding what is best for their people.
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- May/2/23 8:43:58 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that is a really great question and it is clearly a very important role when we look at truth and reconciliation, but also giving back autonomy. There is a great saying, and it would be great if it was implemented: Nothing about us without us. Friendship centres are imperative. A lot of the indigenous people I know were taken from their homes, their culture and their roots. It is a journey to get back to who they were and what they were. I find extreme value in the friendship centres.
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- May/2/23 8:37:50 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, here we are, two years later, and tomorrow still has not come.
This is an issue that hits home in my community. I have talked about this in the past, but it certainly warrants repeating. Cileana Taylor was 22 years old when she was assaulted in September 2020. Her brain injury left her in a coma for five months. She died in February 2021. The man who assaulted Cileana was not charged with murder and he is currently walking free on the street.
What happened to Cileana and what continues to happen in this country to indigenous women is an injustice. It is shameful and it rests solely on the backs of the inaction of this Prime Minister and the Liberal government's failed catch-and-release bail system. Indigenous women's and girls' lives matter. Cileana's life matters. The calls for justice are not photo ops and they are not optional. They are necessary to create the substantial and systemic change necessary to end the ongoing violence.
There is something we can do today. It is a simple, actionable item. We have an Amber Alert and it helps find children quickly by leveraging technology. A red dress alert can do the same. It is a simple, actionable item that every single member in this House can get behind. While we wait for these actionable items to be put into place, why not try something tangible that we can put in place today? A red dress alert would stop indigenous women from being murdered and going missing. It seems pretty simple.
Enough is enough. We need action. I stand in solidarity with all the members in this House tonight to say that a red dress alert is something we can get behind. We need to stop indigenous women from going missing and being murdered.
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- Dec/7/22 9:09:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been a very big proponent of mental health. First nations have experienced this very differently from everyone else and they know this first-hand. The short answer to that question is there is a mental health transfer that is in the works. The sum of $4.5 billion was promised by the Liberal government for a mental health transfer, in particular for indigenous treatment and recovery. It is going to be different so we need to look at that.
There is a lot that we can be doing in terms of treatment and recovery and helping the trauma that is a result of a lot of past governments and a lot uneducated people, basically, would be the short answer to that.
I would love to see the $4.5 billion of mental health transfer help people who are suffering.
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- Dec/7/22 9:03:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is an incredible advocate and leader on the subject of missing and murdered indigenous women. I have the pleasure of watching her work and listening to her on the status of women committee.
This is deeply emotional. This is devastating. I cannot imagine not only having a family member murdered, but then knowing they are in a landfill and their family is not able to have their body back.
The answer to my colleague is that there has to be something done. Members cannot sit on the other side of this House as a government and say they are fully committed, but do nothing.
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- Dec/7/22 8:54:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise in the House to speak on behalf of the members of my community of Peterborough—Kawartha. The purpose of tonight's take-note debate is to bring forth a discussion on a very serious issue and to call on the Liberals to listen. We have a crisis that has been happening for decades, and tonight we are demanding action.
I will provide a trigger warning for anyone watching or listening: This is a very heavy topic, and it can be triggering for some people.
Tonight, we are speaking about murdered and missing indigenous women and girls in Canada. Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Buffalo Woman are the names of the four indigenous women murdered in Winnipeg. It is important to say their names. It is important to bring these women home to their families. It is important that the families of these women see justice.
The last updated number I could find was 307 murdered and missing indigenous women. As shocking as this statistic is, it is from 2018. How many more are there? Why is this not a priority? Indigenous women and girls in Canada are disproportionately affected by all forms of violence. Although indigenous women make up 4% of Canada's female population, 16% of all women murdered in Canada between 1980 and 2012 were indigenous. The 2019 general social survey on victimization, along with Statistics Canada data, has indicated that indigenous women were more likely to experience intimate partner violence than non-indigenous women.
During a study on sex trafficking of indigenous peoples, experts said that 52% of human trafficking victims are indigenous and that the average age of exploitation of an indigenous girl was 12 years old. Although the indigenous population up to the age of 14 makes up 7.7% of all Canadian children, they represent 52.2% of the children in the child welfare system. Studies have shown that these children in the system are more likely to enter into prostitution. This is not information that is new to the government. It is at the disposal of the government, but nothing has changed. We see no action on this human rights issue.
I will quote from Amnesty International's report, “Stolen Sisters: A human rights response to discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada”. It says:
When a woman is targeted for violence because of her gender or because of her Indigenous identity, her fundamental rights have been abused. And when she is not offered an adequate level of protection by state authorities because of her gender or because of her Indigenous identity, those rights have been violated.
The date of that report's release is 2004. It has been 18 years. This is shameful. Past governments, all of them, must share the blame in perpetuating the broken system that has left indigenous women and girls behind.
Two years after the release of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report, the government finally released an action plan on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It is a plan that many have called flawed, toxic and unsafe. I will quote from an article:
University of Western Ontario professor Michael Arntfield — an expert on serial murder and cold cases — told the Toronto Sun the government and its army of bureaucrats are “chiefly to blame” for the continuing crisis.
“This is another solemn reminder of the fact that despite all the lip service in the world, the proper resources from the top down are still not being properly allocated.”
Meaningful reconciliation involves more than just funding announcements and photo ops. It requires partnership and collaboration with indigenous communities across Canada. There is so much more work to be done to protect the lives of indigenous women and girls across our country. “Bad people commit these horrible crimes against Native women,” said Malinda Limberhand, mother of Hanna Harris, who was murdered in 2013 on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. Malinda Limberhand continued, “but it is the system that allows it to happen generation after generation.”
There has to be change. Enough is enough. We need to see tangible results that meaningfully improve the lives of indigenous women and girls. This starts with the federal government implementing its portion of the 231 calls to action from the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report, including calls for a “standardization of protocols for policies and practices that ensure that all cases...are thoroughly investigated”, “the establishment of a national task force...to review and, if required, to reinvestigate [cases] from across Canada”, and ensuring “protection orders are available, accessible, promptly issued and effectively serviced and resourced to protect [victims].”
Canada’s Conservatives are focused on bringing forward policies that make real and measurable improvements in the lives of Canada’s indigenous people.
I would like to take this opportunity to speak about a devastating loss in my local community of Curve Lake First Nation. Cileana Taylor was 22 years old when she was brutally attacked by her partner on September 3, 2020. Cileana was on life support for six months before she passed away with her family at her side. The man who attacked her was out on bail for a previous assault charge dating back to 2019, when he was charged for aggravated assault on Ms. Taylor. He was released on bail on February 3, three weeks before Cileana died.
“The charge of aggravated assault is not enough when one of our young Indigenous women has died from his violent assault,” is a quote from Chief Laurie Carr, who sent a letter of support on behalf of the Hiawatha First Nation Council. “Our community has supported Cileana’s family and Curve Lake First Nation through prayers and offerings as they sat with Cileana in the hospital, and after her death. Cileana, as all our Indigenous women are sacred and a part of the continuation of life for our people, our culture and our traditions. They are the link, and the connection to our future generations,” Chief Carr said in her letter. She went on, “Cileana had value. Cileana had a full life ahead of her. The loss of Cileana's life is unacceptable to our First Nation, to all our Peoples and to humankind.” The man who attacked Cileana was never charged with murder.
We do not need more headlines of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. We need them to be safe. Cileana and all of our indigenous women and girls deserve justice. Tonight I ask the Liberals to listen and, most importantly, to take action.
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Madam Speaker, that is absolutely true. Some 800,000 indigenous people live off reserve. They are incredible and important, and we are not addressing them. It is a very critical amendment and we hope the Liberals listen to it.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague made great points and she is bang on. Time and time again, we hear, “Trust us. We are capable. Give us a seat at the table. We are not stakeholders. We are shareholders. We want to have autonomy over the decisions that impact us.” Again, I will repeat it: for indigenous, by indigenous. A seat at the table is needed.
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Madam Speaker, it is really important we have the advice and consultation needed by the people who are responsible. Looking at the government, I have seen time and time again that decisions are made without consulting the people who are affected by them most. If we do not have for indigenous, by indigenous consultation at the table, that representation to make decisions, we will never get a path forward to truth and reconciliation.
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Madam Speaker, I think it is really important to focus on what Bill C-29 is here to do, and that is to respond to calls to action 53 through 56.
This national council has to be done properly, and it has to have the right representation at the table to ensure it meets and delivers what it is meant to do, which is for indigenous, by indigenous. If we do not have the right representation at the table, we will never go forward on our path to truth and reconciliation.
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